The Sweet Season

I believe I have been gardening in Calgary since before the Internet, and I feel like I have a feel for the place by now. I know the drawbacks of a short cool season, the real possibility of snow in May and September and the heartache of hail.

It’s easy to throw down the trowel and moan aloud to the uncaring spruce trees that Calgary is the toughest place in the world to garden. I’ve heard that said many times by bitter gardeners poking their toes at the liquefied remains of impatiens, impatiently planted too early in May.

I have always been a cheerleader for high altitude gardening, even though I risk having a parochial view of the place, having done most of my gardening on the “Great High and Dry”. I could only compare the drawbacks and bonuses through conversations with other gardeners, and by reading about gardening in other places – perhaps smirking a little at the knowledge that I didn’t have to deal with Japanese beetles, as though it were consolation for having tomato plants marking time at only 20 centimeters tall in June, with hardly a hope for ripe fruit by summer’s end.

But that has changed. I have another garden to play in now for a while, having been granted the opportunity to work in the south for a bit. And by south I mean the actual South, as in magnolias and mint juleps. Spring is well underway here in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Daffodils are just fading. Periwinkles, both Vinca major and Vinca minor run rampant, their blue flowers eyeing the humid sky midst a bed of glossy green.

Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) takes centre stage right now. they maybe white or pink, like the ones in my yard.

This is definitely the fun season here. Anything you plant will grow. I planted a bunch of tomato and pepper plants and I swear they grew visibly right behind my back as I sowed the seeds of basil and quite a number of traditional summer favourites like cosmos and zinnia. I never planted much from seed in Calgary, at least not directly outdoors. I have high and wild hopes here.

But every place has its glory season. It’s easy to think this place is magical, knowing that in Calgary winter still probably has a couple of swift kicks left in it right now. The oppressive heat that is the infamy of the south is not upon us yet. And when it is, I will miss the glory that is a clear summer sunny day in Calgary.

I can already tell that weeds are poised to take over. I eye them suspiciously. A battle is about to be waged. Have you heard of kudzu? We have that here. It can envelop vehicles and buildings. And poison ivy stems that grow hairy and thick as your arm straight up into trees.

This pretty pink wood sorrel comes up wherever it pleases. I won’t weed out this little beauty though.

My new garden is a bit of an experiment. I have never done much vegetable gardening, but I’m keen to explore that in a climate where heat and humidity rule. Instead of watching that tomato forlornly mark time in Calgary’s coolness, I expect to see tomatoes pop before my eyes. Will I need a machete to clear a way to them? What kinds of nefarious critters will I have to fend off to get my fair share. I have spied the shining night-time eyes of raccoon and opossum. I know there is a fat groundhog who waddles around from time to time. I may have to reinforce the fence a lot to keep him away from my garden treats.

The veggie garden, fenced. Will it be enough?

And the bugs. I like bugs. I like to watch them and photograph them. But I’m not at all fond of the plethora of ghastly little invisible bugs here, including chiggers. Ever heard of those little blighters? They literally get under your skin and itch for something like a month. It’s tough to relax outside during the summer months because of this.

The ability to relax under the stars on a cool Calgary evening with maybe only a light cover up without being chewed to pieces is worth more than you can imagine, until you’ve been gnawed on by chiggers. Trust me on that.

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